In episode 1 of season 5, Robin dedicates “pretty and pink” by the psychedelic furs to this person she has a date planned with. This song is so obviously about a girl. Was Robin not out and dedicating this song to Vickie? I have trouble believing nobody clocked this and while yes, it was the 80s, you’re telling me nobody thought anything of this?
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It was the 80's. It wasn't something people would think to consider. The idea that a woman who was bubbly and well-liked and wasn't overtly masculine could actually be gay.
Yeah when Steve finds out it’s as if he genuinely never considered it.
He’s like “but she’s a girl…” like it’s Robin who is missing a detail here
Like he was expecting Robin to say „Ah shit I hadn‘t considered that, nevermind then“ (memory‘s a bit fuzzy, but wasn‘t he also still high in that scene)
yes but no. this is after Robin and Steve vomit, so the drugs were slightly still in his system, but he vomited out js enough for him to understand and comprehend things to a certain extent.
Exactly. Also after Robin says "I wanted her to look at me" Steve's immediate follow-up is "Mrs. Click?" It doesn't even occur to him at first that a woman could, well, be in-love with another woman.
To be fair to Steve he was transitioning very quickly from professing love to Robin to accepting she’s gay to mocking her taste in women. Don’t think it’s necessarily like he never considered women could love each other
I love that he immediately accepts that she’s gay, but draws the line at liking a girl who can’t sing.
I do think that was partially deliberate cause he could tell how painful this was for her and wanted to put her at ease.
But yeah, props to the guy for having his standards in the right place.
It's what I love about Steve; he has grown to put others first all the time. He tries to patch things up with Nancy? No matter because some random friend of her brother says he needa him.
He just got rejected and is heart-broken? No matter because the girl he confessed to is sharing something deeply personal and is clearly scared of his reaction? Well, he puts himself aside to comfort his friend. Steve is the GOAT.
Yeah, he's grown into being a really selfless and caring person.
As you say, he will always put others before himself.
Even back in season one, once he's had some time to calm down and feel guilty, his primary response isn't to try to get Nancy back, it's to undo the damage and go to apologise to Jonathan for insulting his brother.
Ironically, that one choice set him on the path to where he is now, and unlocked the man he really could be.
I know it's a typo but you made Mike sound like Mario and I'm dying
"Steve? It's-a me, I needa your help"
His redemption arc is amazing. He’s a good role model for people who think they are just one thing. He was awful at the beginning. I hate bullies and I hated him. Now, I love the character. He’s a good dude now. An exceptional human being worth rooting for.
I loved that lmao. "Okay, you're gay. I guess that's alright. What's NOT alright is your TASTE"
To me it's "She's not good enough for you."
Yes!
It's more, he's just realizing he can tease her for her tastes in women. Like, he immediately accepted Robin wasn't and couldn't be into him but he still genuinely loved her enough to turn it into a sincere friendship. Him teasing her about Tammy shows how he just instantly accepted Robin for who she was.
She sounds like a Muppet.
She can sing. Everyone can sing.
She just sings like Miss Piggy.
He wants his bestie to have standards. That's king shit.
Honestly probably my favourite coming out scene I have seen. It felt so authentic.
Steve was always my favorite character but this is what solidified him forever for me. Didn't even think to judge someone for being gay in the 80s, just immediately is like "okay, but HER??"
Yeah, serious shout-out to Steve for honestly being incredibly chill. A lot of people wouldn't accept that situation as gracefully or adapt as quickly as he did today, let alone forty years ago. That was almost certainly the first time anyone had ever come out to him and possibly the first time a girl's ever turned him down, and you couldn't ask for a better reaction. I really love his character development.
He would've made fun of her relentlessly if he was Season 1 Steve. It just really showed how mature he became in that scene. People really didn't think same sex relationships could be a thing in that time.
Not in rural Indiana anyway. That is big city stuff.
Not only would Robin not be “out” but Max and Lucas would not openly date because of race. I’m from a small Indiana town and was the same age as these kids.
That’s why Billy had such an issue with them hanging out on season 3
He was from California too.
California was different back then. In the 80s it went for Reagan twice. It was red in the three presidential elections before 1992 and it was considered a swing state until it became solid blue a few elections later.
To this day, if you go with raw numbers, there are more Republicans in California than in Texas.
Someone like Billy could exist in certain parts of California today.
Yeah, I grew up in a small town in southern Indiana. Was about those kids age in the 80's, a little younger. I told my GF "No f***ing way they would have openly dated like that in a real small town. She would have been an outcast, he would have gotten beaten up pretty regularly unless he was on the basketball/football team and they were winning."
He is on the basketball team and is winning. She is an outcast. I knew white girls who dated black boys like this, it's almost overlooked if the boy is successfully de-racialized into his all-white peer group enough (Lucas is) and the girl is wayward enough (Max is). Lucas has what at the time were nerdy "white" interests, is good at sports, all his friends are white and Jason is like the uberWASP and has accepted him up until the Satanic panic. Max lives in a trailer park with an alcoholic mother and is a burnout at school- she dresses like a man, she doesnt pay attention and her attendance is spotty, she's always with her headphones on. If this was a different show she'd probably be in the pot smokers corner with the Freaks.
Racist fears of interracial relationships are based on trouble-causing black boys "tainting" good white girls from good families. There's always been a leeway where the boy is too accepted as useful by white people and the girl's family is too fractured and she's too "ruined", where it would be not okay so much as just like no one really cares if the girl is"tainted" because she isnt valuable to white society. Once they're out of high school people were a lot less lenient, I dont think Max and Lucas would make it as adults but as 14 year olds with their respective social standings I can see it.
My mom was a Max. I would send this to her if I could. I think she would feel so heard.
Thank you for Writing this. Horrible, but accurate
It happened but was quite rare.
Grew up in rural KS. Checks out.
I don't think he would have made fun of her relentlessly, just he wouldn't want anything to do with her or have a good word for her. Though I agree he's come a long way.
Not only that, he was just bleeringly high, disoriented, and unconscious after being tortured by Russians. And still managed to be absolute class.
I mean he heard about it in theory, but until Robin that wasn't part of his actual life. Robin was quite clear about what's up, so his life experience changed then and there.
Exactly. The point is that it was the 1980’s not many people were able to to come out because of how people used to act towards POC and LBTQ’s. Not even to mention many people didn’t really know anybody who’s gay. Also like you pointed out he was just professing his love for her so he probably didn’t know what to think in that moment.
Even in the 2020s, "girly" lesbians easily pass for straight, and straight women engage in fairly affectionate behavior with each other.
Yep. I've gotten a number of frown's when people find out I'm gay because, "you don't look like it!"
Am I not allowed to like dresses just because I also like women?!
The idea that lesbians have to look masculine and gay men have to look feminine always seemed weird to me - if someone likes women, why would they inherently prefer women that don't look like "conventional" women?
Not to say they can't prefer masculine looking women or that anything is wrong with that, just always thought that this stereotype of homosexuality was weird.
I feel it's because people feel a necessity to assign a gender role even for a non-straight couple. It started as a way to cope and it grew into stereotypes.
It's also a thing of noticeability.
In a quick conversation the overtly feminine gay man is quite noticeable. But the average person would not pick up on a gay man that happens to be in a masculine field like plumbing or something
I've always simplified it like this - If you love gummy worms, wouldn't it be better to go outside and eat real worms? No? Why not? Both are edible. Both would provide nutrients. Why would somebody choose a facsimile instead of the "real thing"?
Just because things resemble each other, it doesn't mean they're the same.
Women have dresses. Women have boobs. What's not to like?
Source: me, also gay, also likes dresses
EXACTLY HOW I FEEL!
I'm straight girl but prefer tomboyish look and everyone thinks that I must be gay :/
In the same way amongst gay dudes there are flamboyant/zesty ones and “normal ones”. There are you (normal/lipstick) and butch ones.
My two daughters are lesbians (well, one is bi but with a solid preference and has been in a relashionship with a girl for almost 2 years now)
Neither really wear dresses because of practicality, but both a somehow feminine in their own way. The older one is a classic ballerina type, wears a lot of fashion trends, long brown hair, very girl next door type.
The other one? A complete stereotype that would make MAGA bigots get triggered. Her hair looks like Twilight Sparkle, she is petite, very 90s grunge/alt type. Think Ramona in Scott Pilgrim.
Both get hit on by the guys. My youngest transfered school at the end of the first trimester and on the first week at her new school, 4 boys and 2 girls asked her out.
The media has always been so weird about it too. The amount of "gals being pals" rhetoric and stories I've seen about various artists and actors over the years when it's just so obvious.
Lots of outlets have no problem superficially supporting stuff too so it's weird how blatant their hangups still are
I have a friend who is like, magazine cover girly pop attractive. people are shocked when she shows her longtime partner (who's equally as attractive.) it's pretty funny
It's so funny to me when people ask where the parents are and then the responses are like "it's the 80s so it's accurate!" but can't fathom other people not clocking people being gay IN THE 80S.
I’m someone from around the area the show takes place and my mom also grew up here in the 70s and 80s. She said that no one would’ve even considered Robins gay, as it wasn’t even on peoples radar back then. She said people even hated Inter racial dating and were directly cruel to anyone who did. (Thinking of max and Lucas) It’s hard to imagine because I grew up in the same exact area and no one has a problem with either anymore, thank god. So I think people not realizing Robins gay tracks with the times
Makes sense!
Totally this post was made by somebody who was not alive in the 1980s. Very different world.
In the 80s the only women actually suspected of being lesbians were gym teachers. And they usually were.
A lot of people don’t even clock Chappel Roan as being gay, and I don’t just mean the older gen
There are also bizarro conspiracy theories about how she's actually just pretending to be gay.
Shit in the '90s and '00s I met ZERO gay people in all of my schooling.
Obviously that's not true, I'm sure I met many, but the idea that people were openly gay in high school is a very, very recent thing. And because you never "met" any gay people, you don't assume people are gay based on behavior the same way I don't assume people are aliens if they make meep morp sounds
I don't think the song gives anything away. Maybe you danced with your bf to this song or kissed first or they told you it makes them think of you, so you play it for them. Or he just likes it!
I was thinking about the fact that she told everyone she had a date tonight and then she was going to go to Enzo's that night with Vickie... Wouldn't some people recognize her in Hawkins?
Yeah honestly announcing the date seems way more risky than the song
Robin canceled the original date, then told Vickie they were going to Enzo's the next night. We don't know for sure that was also the original plan. So being the next night, she'd be able to wave away any suspicion.
Good point, I forgot about that.
It is pretty surely a different plan. At least Robin makes it sound like the Enzo reservation is something new to make up for thr canceled date.
Also it is kinda funny that someone who does listen to her show would assume that the two girls meet up the night after the date to gossip over it...
Although it would also raise the question of how they afford Enzo's at a time like this. Maybe even raise rumors that the mystery person is military and giving her special benefits... or at least someone rich or influential...
Yeah, I kind of expected to get a scene of her hitting up Steve for the money, to be honest.
Yeah...granted, I do have a headcannon that a lot of the people who know her suspect that she and Steve are in some sort of friends with benefits type relationship.
The question is basically whether money has the same value in this quarantine situation.
The local shops only get the deliveries that go through military control.
Speaking of which, after the mall fire it stands to reason that shops in the town square like Melvald's recovered... until the earthquake struck and the military shut down that economic center at the library.
Are people even buying stuff or is everything that is brought in from the outside rationed?
Steve's uncle is a lawyer... does he live in town and if so, would he be able to handle clients outside? Whatever Steve's dad does, can he currently work or are they living off their wealth at the moment?
Because Ted didn't seem to leave the house to go to work. Probably because his employer is outside the perimeter.
Robin didn‘t cancel the date until after Murray showed up and they decided to do a crawl.
Plus Vickie seemed genuinely gutted to hear Robin cancel on her, and if it was always part of the plan to do it on another night that wouldn‘t be the case.
Enzo’s almost certainly wasn’t the original plan, I didn’t hear it like that, at least.
The bad news/good news was “we’re not going out tonight/we’re going to Enzo’s tomorrow night”, to which Vickie asked “how are we affording that?” That’s not a question you’re likely to ask if it was the plan anyway.
Oooh, good point. Like the original date was private and Enzo's was making up for the cancelation!
I mean, even if they do, she can just handwave it that the date was earlier and she's now hanging out with Vickie to tell her about it.
I don't want to be such a Debbie downer on this fun post, but I feel like the date is never gonna happen... you guys can clock me after the season ended weather this is true or not
I also believe this date will never happen. Hopper and Joyce never got their date at Enzo’s. If anything they might go at the end in remembrance of Robin. I do believe they will kill off Robin.
Or it’s a double date with Joyce and Hopper
Yeah, I'm just sort of picturing a humorous epilogue where they finally get their date at Enzo's, only to be put on the table right next to Vickie and Robin.
Cue several minutes of awkward silence, until Hopper slips them a bunch of tens to go do something else.
thats the dream!
God, please don't bury the gays just cause. If you have a good narrative reason to justify a gay character dying, sure, go for it, but there's no indication she's gonna die at this point. She shouldn't just be cannon fodder just because she's queer.
It wouldn’t be “just cause”; seemingly Maya Hawke specifically requested either a spin-off with Steve or a good death for Robin. If she’s going to die, I’m sure they’ll have written a very good narrative reason for why.
I don't know about you, but I never knew what radio DJs looked like growing up. Social media wasn't a thing. The concept of people being gay was not as known/understood for a LOT of people. My mom honestly thought it was a new trend in the early 90s.
I was thinking that too!!
She's a radio personality. Not everyone knows her face.
Mr Brightside is played at every wedding and its message is anything but wedding appropriate.
Sometimes the song is just a bop/hits the spot
I’ve seen countless dudes making sports edits of their favorite male athletes using some version of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” as the song. That song is about giving a blowjob.
Not many people actually listen to what song are about.
"Take me to Church" being a recent example that people still can't figure out. People are singing that shit *in church.*
Which is crazy cause that shit ain't subtle.. I'm surprised it was so popular when released.
I mean, just cause the song is obviously about a girl, it doesn't mean that people would assume she would be dedicating it to another girl. They'd probably think it was an inside joke amongst the couple (like it was playing when they first met, or it was secretly his favourite song), or it's part of Robin's style that she's deliberately and humorously playing the masculine role to get a buzz out of her audience and a laugh from her beau.
I'm willing to wager that most of the listeners who actually know Robin, assumed that this meant she and Steve had finally admitted their feelings for each other.
The song has both a female and male protagonist in the lyrics. Robin could feasibly be seen as identifying with "Caroline" in the song when she makes that dedication.
Oh, good point. Yeah, that adds another level of plausible deniability to it.
It was the 80s. A gay person was not something most people would even think of
“Gay hasn’t even gotten to Indiana yet. There have been rumors in Ohio…” -Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
That show had the best gay jokes, like the "bottomless mimosas" bit...
... or when the gay guy was trying to marry Gretchen(?) for her money, and Kimmy says she can't marry him because he's gay. "No Kimmy, gay people can get married now!"
Cindy! “You ARE an escritoire!” I loved it so much ugh
Can confirm. I was roughly Holly’s age during this time in the 80s and also grew up in a small/rural area. If you had asked me then, I knew 0 gay people.
Same. My best friend was a boy who was obsessed with Madonna and musicals and wore dresses on halloweeen. Still had no clue. Lol
In the 80's that made entire movies about two big muscular dudes making obvious innuendos while "battling" each other and nobody figured it out until the 2000's 😂
People that are aware gay people exist but don't know any gay person and have no experience or socialization with outwardly gay people just don't see it.
Damn what is this movie
Top Gun came to mind first.
Planes trains and automobiles
Rocky 3
This could apply to like a dozen different movies honestly
Take your pick lol. Commando (1985) comes to mind for me.
There were so many Judas Priest songs blatantly about it by that point too.
"All those sweaty construction workers lifting weights in the hot rockin' music video just speak to Rob's male energy surely"
drop the movie name dont be shy
It's more than one movie. Go back and watch some 80's action movies. I mentioned Commando in another comment, but there's also Little Tokyo, the original Predator that I can think of atm. It even pushes through into the 90's... Go watch Interview with the Vampire if you want sheer unbridled sexual tension between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in their primes. Special mention to Antonio Banderas.
Don't forget Xena for lesbians, lol. Back when gays were just invisible, movies and TV could actually get away with a lot.
I never picked up on this as a boy. I thought Xena and Gabrielle were best friends.
thank you for this, this just made my christmas. can't wait to watch passionate sexual tension between grown ass men on my screen this christmas. best gift ever. thank you random reddit user.
Don't forget Top Gun!
Point Break is a homoerotic masterpiece.
The protagonist of Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985) is so obviously gay when watching it now, but literally no one figured that shit out until someone wrote an essay in like 2015.
It's "Pretty in Pink" and a clear reference to the movie and Robin's girlfriend's resemblance to Molly Ringwald.
Plus the fact that the Candy Striper uniform Vickie wears at the hospital is indeed pink.
It’s the 80s no one is going to assume that unless it’s super “obvious” or they want to bully you.
I was in high school during the 80s. It never occurred to me Boy George could be gay.
Lots of people didn't clock George Michael for years, too.
How? Did you think he dressed like a woman for no reason?
It was a weird time. Later on, sure, people thought “how did we not notice this?” But at the same time Twisted Sister were wearing makeup and ladies’ fashions as well. Prince and the Revolution, Michael Jackson, the entirety of the glam and hair metal movements, I think we just lumped it all under the oddities of celebrity. I never really thought twice about anyone’s sexuality, although I was a kid at the time.
I was in elementary during the 90s anc I remember the Lance Bass being gay moment. Was huge news
Nowadays it's like saying water is wet or grass is green 😂
I think you're overlooking the vast number of songs that were popular hits that most people didn't realize what they meant or who they were for at all. For example, Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing", the song famous for the lyric "I want my MTV", was about anti-consumerism and homophobia, in the 80s, and the majority of people didn't get it.
Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" is about vietnam disillusionment, yet still to this day a lot of people just think of it as a 'Merica song.
I fully believe nobody that wasn't in the know about Robin wouldn't have thought "oh she must be gay, she's playing a song for a girl."
Maybe her SO told Robin that she’s pretty in pink, or they went to see the movie on their first date, or she’s just making up an excuse to play the song… Those are all answers for anyone potentially curious about Robin’s love life. I was in hs in 87, and I guarantee that no one would have taken a song dedication as proof of someone being a lesbian.
There was almost no lesbian representation in media and pop culture in the 1980’s, so most people wouldn’t even know it was a thing.
There were campy gay men like Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly, but they were never said to be ‘gay’ on television, and didn’t play gay characters. This is an era where nobody (except the one guy in Heavy Metal Parking Lot) realized Rob Halford from Judas Priest was gay.
People thought that Liberace was straight.
He said he just hadn’t met the right woman yet…
Remember that song, Voices Carry? The video played it as a straight relationship but trivia later mentioned it was about hiding a lesbian relationship. I was so aloof during the 80s you’d have to hit me in the face with it, and I’d be “ohh” 😂
Yeah, Chasing Amy was like groundbreaking and in 1997. 1980s things just weren’t talked about.
People still don’t clock lesbians to this day, and some even refuse to believe it after they’ve been explicitly told.
“They’re roommates.”
In 1984, Queen released 'I want to break free'. Freddie Mercury sang this song in the music video in full drag... People in the 80s did not consider it even a possibility that he could be gay...
In the 80s accusing someone as gay was like accusing someone of a crime. If you dont have real evidence, you dont say it, cause it had serious consequences.
I think music can be interpreted differently and a lot of couples remember the song that was playing when they first danced or kissed or whatever. But her announcing she's going on a date is superrrr risky, I mean its a quarantined zone you can leave right? Someone is going to see you!
The duck joke with Robin was pretty funny. She almost told them all though!
I mean there's no reason to assume their date was originally public. Perhaps they were going to go out to the woods and have a nighttime picnic or something.
Robin only opted for something public cause she had to cancel her date and wanted to make it up to Vickie. And no one's going to question two girls having dinner at a nice restaurant, the day after one of them supposedly had a hot date.
I’m more confused about the fact that she announced their date! It’s a small town, wouldn’t people see them?
Just two best gal friends eating at a super fancy restaurant, Robin's date with her boyfriend must be somewhere else!
Women lived with their partners in the 80s and called them roommates and nobody thought otherwise
I also thought about this but i guess the listeners will assume that she’s the girl in the song when really it’s a reference to Vickie giving Molly ringwald in pretty in pink vibes
It's the same reason why NONE of the characters have managed to deduce Robin's sexuality on their own. In this time period, the idea of someone being gay just kinda doesn't occur to most people. Even if they're not homophobic, it's just not a thing they think about unless it's very specifically brought up.
This only makes me wonder, if Steve and Will are the only ones who know she’s gay? idk I think I need to rewatch the season LOL
I assume Nancy may have figured it out at some point, or at least knows something is different about Robin. But, I don't know why she'd have any reason to reveal that she knows anything. She's the only one that has had a lot of on screen interactions with Robin outside of Steve.
Dustin seemed to grow closer to Eddie between 3 and 4, on top of having a long distance girlfriend, so it appears that Dustin drifted apart from Steve, so that likely means that Dustin and Steve hung out less and as a result may not know Robin all that well either. I don't know how much they hung out post season 4, but Dustin seemed to be Steve's go to guy for radio station stuff, so maybe there was an opportunity for Dustin to get to know Robin more.
As far as we know, they are. Robin hasn't come out to anyone else yet.
A lot of people alive today still can’t clock it 😂
Guilty. 🙋🏽♀️
Idk, I don't think people would care about the sexual orientation of some speaker on the radio while driving at work 7 am😭
At the time you didn’t think a girl loving a girl was a possibility. Even if the song was about girls, it’s like “awww it’s probably their song because he dedicated it to her when he asked out or they danced to it somewhere”. You literally didn’t even think it was a possibility. If a girl told you she had a date, you would KNOW it was with a guy.
One issue my mom has with the show is that she thinks Robin is “too out” for the 80s which genz me can’t comprehend because I don’t really think she’s out all that much…different times I guess
In the 80s, this does not happen. Period. She wouldn’t have used a non-specific gender or told the town she was going on a date and then been out in public with a woman.
I know, I know, there are like 3 examples of people who were out before age 20 in the 80s in rural Indiana, but as a Gen Xer myself, I had to suspend my disbelief watching that scene.
It’s hard to imagine how taboo being gay was back then, from where we stand as a society now, but no one was out. Among close friends and family, maybe, but with the general public… very rare.
This is very interesting to me as a young LGBT person (20.) I watched Stranger things with my parents and i asked them when they were in high school in the 80s if they could spot who the gay kids were like we were able to in school. They said no, not unless it was undeniably extremely obvious like a very masculine butch woman or an extremely fem/camp man. Being LGBT was the last thing anyone suspected of someone, especially if they looked “normal” like had regular, trendy clothes and hair etc.
Someone possibly being LGBT wasn’t even really a thought that occurred to them, which is fascinating because I feel like nowadays i know so many LGBT people and have a very good gaydar even out with random people in public. Just shows there’s been such a big shift, which is amazing, but also sad to think about all those people who suffered in silence and still do
Growing up in a small town in the 80s into the 90s, a lot of people wouldn't even say the word gay/lesbian. They'd say, "there's Linda and her special friend" or just "he seems a little, y'know...[limp wrist hand gesture]."
It was like even directly acknowledging someone else being gay would get you smited by God.
Not to mention the AIDS crisis. Gay men were dying by the thousands.
I mean to be fair, we have no reason to assume the original date was out in public. Then going to Enzo's the next day was her making up for the fact that she had to cancel with Vickie tonight because of the crawl.
If anyone saw them together, they would just assume they were two friends, probably talking about Robin's actual date that happened the night before.
it was a time in which people had aunts and uncles with “totally platonic roommates” for decades. people were mostly very ignorant and therefore oblivious. things have radically changed on the topic in the past 20 yrs
“She is just calling her friend beautiful in a friendly way”
Generally, people will currently guess gay as their last guess.
In the 80’s when it weren’t all around, and people weren’t used to seeing it, obvious signs were just less obvious.
Some of my friends who are lesbians keep warning me (a recently it bi woman) about how at some point I will probably end up on dates that I don't know are dates or where I think they are dates and the other women doesn't think are dates, and that no one freaking notices sapphic flirting....
Congrats on coming out and uh. Good luck navigating dating now, that does sound really challenging.
You got this!! Have lots of fun!
There are people in 2025 who haven't realized Will is gay.
So imagine the 80s when heteronormativity was the standard. Even Steve was lost for 5 seconds when Robin was not-so-subtly coming out to him.
As a gay person, even in 2025 youd be surprised how much stuff youd think to be so obviously gay goes right over peoples heads lol
in the 80s, people were so homophobic that it would never ever occur to them that a girly and bubbly girl could be gay.
Robin could have been living with her very close woman friend with both of them never having any relationship with boys in a one bedroom home and people's reaction would be that they are money savvy, but should probably buy a second bed so Robin doesn't hurt her back sleeping on the couch every night.
Just think of the scene in which Robin come out to Steve. She just said she was passionately in love with a girl and Steve's first reaction is to check it Robin knew the girl was a girl. 🤣
"They're just friends," was a phrase i remember being a LOT in the 80s. People did a lot of denying what was in front of their eyes. They still do.
As a child of the 80s, I can confirm: No, no one on Earth thought anyone they knew was gay. Really ever.
I could genuinely believe people during that time to more likely think, "aww she must be playing the song her boyfriend plays for her" instead of "she must be a lesbian"
In the 80's?
When people still thought George Michael was straight?
In 80s rural Indiana? Amidst a military shutdown? Nah.
In fact, Robin kinda goes out of her way to hide it; if people clocked it and didn't care, alot of her social wouldn't make much sense...
99% of people in Hawkins don't know, partly because of Robin's efforts, partly because of the time period for people even genuinely consider the possibility, and partly because they themselves are very busy to ponder the sexuality and private life of a non-famous radio host.
People back then thought Liberace was straight
Steve was the only one who knew prior to S5 (This came out in S3).
No
It’s honestly hard to comprehend how much the world has changed since the 80s. There were plenty of out people in urban areas, but small town life was different, especially for the very young. For all that’s still ass backwards in the world, the way LGBTQ folks are largely regarded today is very different than it was then. That is progress, but maybe not yet enough.
No
It is the year of our lord two thousand and twenty five and there's still dudes in my hometown who will argue that Freddy Mercury was straight
I grew up in the 80s and I knew exactly ONE out gay person. One.
My dude, people are out there right now dedicating "Every Breath You Take" and James Blunt's "Beautiful" to their girlfriends. Nobody listens to the songs beyond a line or two of the chorus. Nobody.
Robin literally tells Steve in the bathroom stall in season 3 she's gay 😭 yall forgot about that?
You overestimate the ability of people living in rural Indiana in the ‘80s to “clock” anything remotely LGBT lol.
I have family members that were blatantly, obviously gay and clearly living with a same-sex partner in the 70s and 80s and it was never clocked. People very often didn't even consider it as a possibility/option, ESPECIALLY two women.
I'm more surprised that they thought it was a good idea to go on a date to the most popular restaurant in their small town. I know there aren't many options, but it's not exactly a clandestine dinner date.
I mean it's not like they're going to be kissing or flirting in public.
To anyone else, it would just be two friends having a nice meal together.
Girl, people still only think of butch loggers as lesbians, pink/lipstick lesbians melt peoples minds, same with the alt-punk lesbians.
Most people inherently view everyone and everything as "straight" unless it is directly gay.
Also people don't listen to lyrics. they listen to things that sound good. this is why so many people listen to Rage Against the Machine but are republicans. because they don't listen to lyrics.
Hell just look at Greenday - so many people were shocked to find out "American idiot" was about not wanting to be a republican/corporate/conservative and freaked out this past summer.
I did not hear about this but I find it hilarious. The lyrics are so obvious as is the overall tone of the album. I don’t think it could be any more clear lol.
Once I did an ocular pat down on a guy and clocked a knife in his boot.
By the way the song is actually about exploitation of a naive girl. John Hughes used it to tell a different story but the original is unsettling
We’ve known Robin was gay since season 3 wtf universe am I in rnEdit: Jesus imma fuckin idiot
They thought its a coincidence, peopleb tend to believe what they want.
At this point I dont think Robin really cares if people found out.
While homophobia was an issue, it was far far worse (and still is) for gay men because of the aids epidemic.
People didn’t clock that Liberace was gay back in the day. It just didn’t cross people’s minds.
It was the 80’s, sure, but Rocky Horror came out in 1975. Queerness wasn’t what it is now, but it wasn’t unknown back then either.
Back then, even if someone had an idea another person was gay, it was whispered behind their back. That was after all other excuses for "eccentric" behavior were made. Even openly gay people only told people they could trust who also kept it quiet for them.
People like to act like absolutely no progress has been made in the acceptance of gay people, but the steps forward I've seen in my lifetime have been monumental.
Yeah well put. Plus, I have to admit I suspect most people wouldn't clock Robin as being gay. I think most of them believe she and Steve are sleeping together, even if they're not officially dating.
Wasn't Ronald Reagan president during the time period, series is set in. So, wasn't he and his government, his supporters were anti LGBTQIA community and labelled HIV as gay people disease and ran a narrative against them. So, then wouldn't it be dangerous to her to share about her sexuality to everyone.
Lots of people don't pay close attention to the lyrics. When I was in high school (in the 80s to boot) I knew couples whose "special song" was Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight". Every school dance also ended with "Stairway To Heaven". And a whole lot of people today STILL think Bruce's "Born In The USA" is a "yay America" patriotic thing.
“Pretty in Pink”. Pretty AND Pink would likely be an entirely different kind of song.
she's broadcasting to a town full of people quarantined by the military, imagine most people aren't paying that close attention to who dedicated what song.
Dude people didn’t know Elton John was gay until the 90’s.
Omg I thought you meant none of us clocked it, and I hear I was thinking it was literally told to us lmao.
It was the 80s.
It's completely unrealistic but so is everything else in the show but the writers are only making sure that people under 18 can follow the logic of the show. It's really that simple. The writers didnt think about the fact that Robin would easily be found out by the community that same night because the town is in lock down and she and vicki would be seen by everyone together.
Just watched the documentary “abducted in plain sight” and honestly, pre-90s America was naive af.
I'm 74, in the 80's NOBODY figured out who was gay. Freddie Mercury was completely "under the radar" to the public. So having the group even thinking it was a possibility was highly unlikely
I mean it's a really small town in the country, I don't think there's much of an LGBT...+ community that actually would get any reference.
Maybe she has some kids in the hs that kind of know....?
Comphet thinking is helluva drug
They will make amazing roommates 🥰
The other thing is people, especially men, don’t think about women at all, let alone queer women. They’ve safely hidden as an afterthought
You'd be surprised how much people can pretend someone isn't gay. I somehow have always came across as straight, except for sharp people.
It’s like how we all thought George Michael was just British.